~~ I have no words; my voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out! ~~ Shakespeare

Laura watched as her husband expertly evaded Emily’s questions. Folding his arms and nodding quietly or shaking his head when she tried for more information about the afternoon’s events. She could tell by the look on Emily’s face that she’d be giving up soon…No one held out against Luke for long…

Except for her.

"Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?" Emily asked again quietly. Gesturing towards the bedroom where Elizabeth now lay sleeping.

Luke shook his head slowly. "No, Sweetheart but thank you for the offer. I think it’d be best if you just go on home and get some rest. I’m sure Elizabeth will call you just as soon as she’s ready to talk about everything that’s going on right now. She’s just a little worn out, which I’m sure you can under –

"Of course," Emily interrupted. Grabbing her jacket from the coat rack in the corner. She took a look around at the small apartment. Remembering the day just a few months back when she’d first shown the empty home to Lucky. He’d been so anxious to find a place as near to home and as near to Elizabeth as possible.

They’d had such a short time to be happy…and now this had to happen. It wasn’t fair.

"I’ll be at Nikolas’ if you need anything," she continued. Reaching for the door.

Laura spoke from her place in the threshold of the short hallway leading to the bedroom. "Thank you Emily. He really needs you right now."

Emily smiled softly. "I need him too…I’ll see you two later. Please keep me posted."

Laura folded her arms and nodded. Waiting a beat to make certain that Emily had enough time to walk a few paces away from the door and out of the building. She bit the inside of her lip and walked towards her husband.

"Talk to me Luke."

He turned to her and sighed wearily. He’d known she’d want answers from the look on her face when she’d walked in just a while ago, and knew he had to give them to her as soon as she made her way over. Knew he was the only one who WOULD give them to her. But that didn’t make telling her any easier.

"And don’t give me the soft version you’re concocting in your head right now either," Laura continued. Interrupting his thoughts. "I want the truth…I know what an excellent attorney Alexis is, and I know my son would have been out on bail right now if everything was going as fine as you made Emily believe it was."

Luke licked his lips and sat down on the barstool to the side of her. Glancing back towards the bedroom for a moment before he began. Laura followed his gaze and then glanced back at him.

At his complete silence she sighed. "I talked to her for a few minutes before she drifted off again……She’s completely out of it Luke – and it’s not just fatigue."

"No, it’s not…JUST fatigue," Luke allowed. Fatigue, however filling his own voice with gruffness. It had been the longest last few hours of his life. "She doesn’t know that Lucky is in jail…In fact she doesn’t seem to remember the last few hours."

Laura’s brow creased. "What do you mean she doesn’t remember? How can that be?"

Once again, a deep sigh escaped Luke’s lungs. "I’ve been here with her for over an hour now and all she can seem to recall is earlier this morning. I guess Lucky was supposed to come home from the hospital – they were there with Audrey overnight…but then he wound up coming to our house instead."

"Where Lu said he came flying in like a bat out of Hell," Laura finished. "He was looking for something – in that chest…what was it Luke?"

Her husband closed his eyes for a long moment. Remembering his son’s anger. How out of sorts he’d been. How fury burned like hot coals in his eyes.

"I don’t know darlin’. He came there with something on his mind…a truckload of something on his mind…and he wouldn’t even stop a minute to talk about it. It was like he COULDN’T stop a minute…I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that way…No, ONCE," Luke admitted.

Remembering when he’d come home that evening to find his son packing. Furious to find that his father hadn’t been who he’d thought he’d been all his life. But even that…No, even that night didn’t compare to what he’d seen just a few hours ago.

His voice faltered but came back slowly. "He was in this state of panicked…shock – or something? His eyes like he’d just seen something that he couldn’t fully process…I tried to get it out of him. To sit him down and talk…but all he could think about was finding something in that damn chest. Whatever it was he was looking for…he found it under the couch. He found it, and he ran out quicker than he’d come in."

From Lu’s account of what happened and her husband’s eyes, Laura knew that he’d followed. "What happened when you went after him?"

"I couldn’t keep up," Luke admitted in frustration. "He took off in that damn Mercury of his and I got caught behind a semi…I should have known he had to come back here…"

His voice trailed away as he shook his head and Laura’s eyebrows quivered. "What do you mean he had to come back here? For what? Where did you think he was going in the first place?"

"He was going to kill Alexander Hart."

This time her eyebrows arched high on her forehead. Luke said it with such clarity. Such unequivocal calm and knowledge, that it made her flinch. Her breath caught in her throat.

"You can’t believe that he actually did this. Actually killed a man in cold blood."

Luke clasped his hands together and sat in silence for a moment. Remembering images that he hadn’t yet been able to put words to. Images he would never be able to forget. "Not ‘A’ man Sweetheart – one particular man - Alexander Hart."

"Luke!"

He stood up quickly and shushed her. Afraid that Elizabeth would wake just down the hall. "Laura I don’t know…I don’t know what I believe. All I know is that I’ve seen the look on my OWN face, and I know what I’VE done in the past – I know what I still WOULD do.……

"I also know my son’s got a lot more self-restraint than I have," he continued. "But on the other hand, we both know that he’d do anything for that girl down the hall…So if push came to shove…

"Yeah," he finished quietly. Not having to think about it at all. "Yeah, I think he’d kill Alexander Hart if necessary."

Laura took a few steps back and sat on the couch. Not shocked, but reeling from all that she’d had to take in none the less.

"IF it was necessary," she began. "But Lucky was alone when he came to our house…why would he come back here to get Elizabeth if he was going after Alex? That doesn’t make any sense."

"I don’t think he came back here for Elizabeth, I think he came back here for his gun Sweetheart."

Her immediate reaction was to cover her face with her hands. How her husband could say it so cavalierly made her want to scream. She sighed instead as she leaned forward against her knees.

Luke’s hand reached out to rub circles along her back. She spoke through her hands.

"So you think he came back here to get his…gun," she swallowed hard. "And then maybe he and Elizabeth had an argument…a big one? Maybe she tried to stop him from going after Alex...and then...maybe it was just so upsetting that she blocked it all out?"

"No…I don’t think that’s what happened at all."

And although the picture was fuzzy, and things were still unclear…he brought it back with the best reception he could.

***

Luke tried not to think about what the fact that Alex’s security gate had been left open. Why Lucky would do something so careless as to leave a trail, he didn’t know. If he was really going to do this - if the blood in his eyes was for real – he needed to take a moment and plan out his moves.

But it was becoming painfully obvious to Luke that his son’s moves weren’t at all calculated at the moment. He was acting on pure adrenaline, pure hatred. The two things that had probably caused his car to go even faster on the way over. Losing Luke as he’d tried to follow.

At least he’d been smart enough to ditch that, Luke thought. Glancing quickly around as he made his way through the gardens and around the side of the house. Slinking like a cat burglar in the brightness of day. Yes, at least Lucky had had enough presence of mind to ditch his car somewhere along the way. But there was no doubt in Luke’s mind that his son was somewhere on the premise.

He could feel him.

There was a hum in the air that had been left behind by the burn of rubber, by the fuel of hate.

Slowly, he moved around to the side door. Not sure of where it led to, but needing to get inside the house, Luke pushed his weight against it. A bit surprised when it simply gave way. He swallowed hard against the sudden dryness in his throat. Not even a creak of hinges broke the silence of the day.

The door swung open and a trail of dirt had been tracked inside the hall. Footprints – male footprints.

‘Cowboy, come on,’ he thought quickly. Easing down to his hands and knees to rub the spots from the floor with the sleeve of his shirt. ‘You can’t just leave your stamp of approval everywhere son.’

He’d taught his cowboy better than that, but right now the cowboy wasn’t thinking clearly.

In the midst of cleaning, a voice from another room caught Luke’s attention and he stilled on his hands and knees. Listening closely to the soft mumble coming from just down the hall.

Where the hell was he? A corridor that led where exactly? The damn house was too big to even fathom a guess.

Rising slowly to his feet, Luke pressed himself against the wall and slid further down the hall. Closer to the voice that he suddenly realized was his son’s. But he wasn’t talking to Hart. He couldn’t have been. He couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was too soft – too soothing to be based in boiling hot anger.

Taking a deep controlled breath, Luke pushed open the back entrance to the kitchen. Realizing that was where he was, once the pots and pans that hung from a gourmet wrack over an island came into view.

The next thing to register however, was the blood.

He’d seen a lot of things in his life. Things that he’d never wanted to remember because of their horrid nature. But this…this was more blood than he’d ever seen in his life…and it was everywhere.

His feet – suddenly turned lead – wouldn’t lead him towards his son’s voice. He rounded the corner, getting a better look at the island. A better look at his son and Elizabeth. The blood on the walls and the quick jerk of his son’s pale face towards him had his stomach tumbling.

"Lu – Lucky."

"Dad?"

Luke moved forward slowly. And his eyes suddenly met with the source of all the blood, behind the island. Alexander Hart swimming in a pool of his own blood.

His son was saying something to him once more, and his head shot up. "Don’t – don’t step in it," he instructed quickly. Beckoning his father closer and then turning back to the Elizabeth. Her back to Luke on the island.

Luke managed to find his voice as he stepped around the bloody heap on the floor. "Cowboy what the Hell is goin’ on here…

"Listen, Dad I need you to do me a huge favor here," Lucky rambled quickly. Glancing back at her face every other second.

"What’s going on –

The question came from Elizabeth now, and Lucky bent at the knees and kept his hands on her face. Needing her to look only at him and not her surroundings.

"Nothing Sweetie, my Dad just came by…but listen, here’s what’s gonna happen – He’s gonna take you home."

"Home?"

Luke tried to focus in. Watching his son as he tried to explain something to Elizabeth that shouldn’t have had to be explained.

"Elizabeth, my dad is gonna take you home –

"Are you coming?"

Lucky glanced quickly at the blood spattered cabinets and the pool that was slowly spreading across the floor. "Not yet…but in a little while, ok?"

"I want you to come home," she said then. Her voice nearly a whimper.

Luke stood behind them, trying to catch his breath as he continued to take in the terror around him. Dear God...what the Hell had happened here…

"Lucky I don’t think we should leave you alone here," he began. "In fact why don’t we all get the Hell out of Dodg –

Lucky turned abruptly and spoke quickly and calmly. All the while holding Elizabeth to his side. "Listen to me. I know you want to help, and what I need you to do for me right now is GET HER OUT of here. Ok? And then I need you to take her by the clinic on Elm and 5^th…and then you take her home and make sure she’s warm and she gets in bed – ok…DAD – OK?"

Taking a deep breath, Luke shook his head. His mind reeling. "Lucky what the Hell are you doing? You’re not going to STAY here. You think I’m just gonna let you –

"I think you’re gonna do exactly what the Hell I ASK you to do!" His outburst was fierce. Like a man at the end of his rope, but he pulled it back in just as quickly. "Please – OK?"

The sharpness of his son’s voice had Luke searching for the words to make him see reason. Make him see that this wasn’t the way to get anything done.

"Lucky just tell me what happened here. Did you do this? Did she –

Before he could say another word, Lucky cut him off through grit teeth. "DON’T say it. Just do me this favor and get her out of here. Dad…that’s all I’m asking. PLEASE – I know what I’m doing."

"Do you?"

Their eyes locked for one moment and he thought he saw fear in his son’s eyes but it disappeared just as rapidly as it had appeared. He was turning back to Elizabeth in the next second. Helping her down from the island.

"Ok," he said softly. "You’re gonna go with my dad now ok?"

Elizabeth’s began to tense and her eyes drifted around the room. She started to turn around, right before Lucky caught her by the shoulders. "Hey…get going ok? I want you to go home and try and get some sleep."

"Lucky –

One sharp look shut Luke up.

"Where are you parked?" He asked quickly. Wrapping his arms tightly around Elizabeth. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms as if to keep her warm.

Luke stumbled. Trying to remember now. "Out by the guest house. Lucky why are you –

"Ok, good," Lucky responded. Interrupting once more. "You can go out of this kitchen and keep walking till you reach the back of the of the hall on your left. They’ll be a pair of French doors. They lead out to the garden. Walk towards the fountain and keep going into the woods. The guesthouse will be about 20 yards back."

"Lucky I can figure out how to get to the damn guest house. I’m not concerned with –

"TAKE HER – NOW," he seethed through his teeth. "I don’t have time to argue about this!"

With one final glance to the body on the floor. Luke wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and glared at his son. "I hope you know what you’re doing here."

"Take care of her," was his only response.

He glanced down at the silent girl that leaned against him with all of her weight. "Hey Darlin’, we’re gonna go for a little ride ok?"

She only nodded quietly as he led her around one side of the island. Carefully using his body as a shield from what was on the floor just to the side of them as they made their way out of the kitchen.

***

Laura placed a hand over her mouth to stifle the sob that threatened. "Oh my God…Luke…"

He nodded and drew her close. "I know Darlin’ I know…if I had another MINUTE. Another SECOND – I could have talked some sense into him, I’m sure of it. But the look in his eyes…All he cared about was getting her out of there…" His voice trailed away.

Opening her own, Laura glanced towards the hall to the side of them. "Do you think he found her there?"

"She must’ve gone to see Alex," Luke whispered. Shaking his head. "I don’t know what for. Maybe for the same reason Lucky went off half-cocked…but…something happened – something went wrong…very wrong."

"He’s taking the blame for her," Laura said soberly. "He’s sacrificing himself."

"It looks that way," Luke agreed quietly. "But…who’s to say…who’s to say that he didn’t get there – see whatever was happening between Elizabeth and Alex and just start shooting –

"I SAY," Laura interrupted. "I SAY because I know my son better than that. No matter what was happening –

"Laura if your son walked in on Alex attacking Elizabeth, there is no doubt in my mind that he WOULD have shot him. Alex has pushed him once before remember? I saw it with my own two eyes…"

And the images of Lucky’s attack on Alex at the guesthouse came back in great detail. But it was nothing now. Nothing in comparison to what Luke had seen earlier today.

Laura continued to shake her head slowly. "If it had been in self-defense…if he had been protecting Elizabeth, Alexis would already have him out on bail Luke…Luke they think he murdered him in cold blood."

It made sense. If Lucky had simply walked into an altercation between Alex and Elizabeth he wouldn’t have felt it his duty to make himself look guilty.

That fact made him shiver. His son was taking the blame. Sacrificing himself…for what exactly?

"I heard the police sirens just as Elizabeth and I were driving away…God," he sighed. Placing his head in his hands."I’m going to see him now," he said then. "Try and talk some sense into…"

"Will you watch her?" He asked. His mind traveling in 6 different directions. She’s completely…" Luke shrugged again. "She was lucid enough to scream bloody murder when I tried take her into that clinic…"

Bloody murder – how apropos.

"I don’t notice any injuries, but Lucky insisted…"

Laura bit down on her lip and nodded. "I’ll stay here with her."

She caught his arm just as he made his way to the door. "Luke…" God, what could she say. What did she want to say…

"Tell him I love him – will you?" She glanced towards the hall. "Tell him we all do."

Her husband simply nodded and made his way out the door. It was love that had ended his son up in jail.

~~~~~~

Alexis stopped in front of his cell. It would be the last time this evening.

Lucky looked up from where he cradled his head in his hands. Having caught the corner of her heels in his peripheral vision.

"Don’t worry Lucky, I’m not here to brow beat you anymore. Just here to tell you I’m leaving for the night. I’ve only been here a few hours but it certainly feels like years…"

She let her voice trail away. Giving him another chance to jump in.

"Thank you," he said softly. It was his only response.

"Thank you for what? Thank you that I’m leaving? Or thank you for representing you? If it’s the latter, I think you’ll have to rethink your show of manners because you haven’t allowed me to DO anything for you Lucky…

"But again – I won’t brow beat you," she added.

He only nodded, and listened as she started to walk away. "Alexis –

When she turned, he was standing. And in spite of herself, she knew her face looked hopeful.

"Yes, what is it Lucky?" She asked quickly. Holding her breath. Was he going to talk? Was he going to explain why he was so reluctant to say anything?

His breath caught in his throat and he locked eyes with his attorney for a moment. "Nothing…thank you…Goodnight Alexis."

She sighed and hefted her briefcase back up to her side. "Goodnight Lucky."

Because his knees seemed to give out on him, Lucky sank back down to the cot as soon as she’d disappeared down the hall. He hitched his legs up on the thin mattress and let his head fall back against the cold cement wall behind him. Letting his arms fall on his knees.

A few hours ago he knew one thing and one thing only – that he had to protect her. But now whenever he closed his eyes he wondered what was happening with her. Wondered if he was doing her more harm than good.

But how could that be possible? If he hadn’t done what he’d done, she’d be the one staring out of gray bars right now. And he couldn’t live with that. Couldn’t live with the thought of the mother of his children sleeping on the cot he sat upon now. No way.

It had all happened so quickly. Other options had cycled through his brain of course. The one that said – take her and get the Hell out of Dodge – being the most prominent.

But when he’d looked at her and seen those blank eyes. The beginning of a bruise on her cheek, and remembered the three lives growing inside of her…How could he drag her off and still cover their tracks in time. And if she hadn’t done it…

Then what? They’d spend the rest of their lives too busy running to clear her name?

It had all happened too quickly, and all he could think about was the doctor telling them that she needed to be monitored, that it was a high risk pregnancy…all of those words had completed a full circuit in his head in a matter of seconds and he’d had not longer than that to make a decision. You try making a decision with blood floating around your feet like the puddle made after a hard rainfall.

He couldn’t help thinking about it though. What if it was the most horrible mistake he’d made to date? Even worse than leaving her all those years ago. What if this left her more scarred than allowing her to take the blame for herself…

And Jesus, what if she hadn’t done it at all?

‘Spencer come on,’ a voice countered the impossible thought. ‘You were there - you saw the evidence with your own two eyes…He attacked her,’ he thought. ‘He attacked her and she did the only thing she could do…

The images of her torn shirt…her unfastened pants played before his eyes and he had to rub at them with a force that made them hurt.

‘Well if that’s the case,’ another voice hypothesized. ‘If that’s the case than why didn’t you simply allow her to take the blame. It would have been a cut and dry self-defense case. But instead you’ve muddled things up more than they even would have been.

‘Oh and what?’ he continued to think. ‘What allow her to sit here in jail until they figured out that it was self-defense? No. No…I wouldn’t let her go through this...No way my babies would be eating prison food. Hell no.’

Round and round his thoughts went. Like some psychotic carousel. Doubt and clarity exchanged themselves with whimsy. Every emotion that was possible for a man to feel seemed to do a dose-e-doe around his heart.

He closed his eyes and tried to take himself back to a time, just hours ago when he hadn’t been thinking clearly. He tried to bring it all back now – make some sense of it…

Starting with arriving back at their apartment after he’d found the Hellish document at his parent’s house.

***

His fucking key wouldn’t fit in the lock fast enough. Probably because his hand shook with ferocity that he couldn’t seem to control. Like a man in the severe stages of Parkinson’s disease. Reaching out to steady the wrist with his other hand, Lucky finally succeeded in shoving the key in the lock.

If it hadn’t worked, he would have broken the damn door down in the next second. That much he knew, and it was about the only thing he knew aside from having to get to his gun. Needing it like he needed oxygen at that very moment.

But what would he do? What would he tell her when he found her waiting for him in their bedroom. Sleeping peacefully. Napping and waiting to be awaken…probably to be made love to. Lately, she’d been particularly fond of making love in the afternoon.

It was the only time he could remember in the entire amount of time that he’d been making love to Elizabeth, that he would not be able to take the time for it. He couldn’t take the time to breathe, let alone love anyone when all he had in his heart at that very moment was hate.

The hate seemed to push him forward as if someone actually strained his or her weight against him from behind. Pushing his feet and every muscle in his legs through the living room and down the short hall.

His feet stopped short when he got to the bedroom. She wasn’t there. The bed lay in disarray. The comforter turned down along with the sheets, but she wasn’t there. And there were no sounds in the bathroom…in fact the bathroom door hung open and she was nowhere to be seen.

Because dread had been curled up in his stomach like a coiled snake waiting to strike for the last hour or so, he didn’t seem to recognize it when it coiled even tighter and flicked it’s tongue out along his insides.

If he’d been in his right mind he would have known right then that things were even worse than he thought they were…but he wasn’t in his right mind. He wasn’t anywhere NEAR his right mind.

Shaking off the slight sense of even greater unease, he stalked towards the closet. Yanking back the door with a harsh tug. A feeling much like satisfaction washed over him when he saw the box that housed his pistol. Gratification boiling in his gut. The anticipation of having it in his hands…shooting it into his heart and then his skull.

The thoughts of violence swirled in his head until his vision blurred with thoughts of red, and he had to blink twice to focus on the fact that the box was empty once he’d opened the lid.

Empty – barren – without gun.

The snake that was coiled so tightly in his stomach – struck now. Biting his insides and shooting venom through his system so fast that he almost fell to the carpet beneath him, when his legs that began to go weak.

Swiftly he turned to the nightstand next to his bed and pulled open the drawer. Reaching to the bottom for the case of ammo. His hands shook now and it took a few seconds to open it.

The air rushed out of him so fast that he literally heard his heart skip. It was empty. Just like the gun case. Everything was gone.

He’d never know how he knew. How he knew that she knew…maybe it was that same connection that his mother had always had with him. Maybe he had the same one with Elizabeth, and it was choosing now to kick in. Now when he could have made use of it so many years ago.

Whatever the cause, he knew in his gut that she knew. That she knew and the reason his gun did not reside in the place it always had, and the bullets were gone was because of that reason alone.

What else could have prompted her to take a gun that she hated? Carry a weapon when she despised even the thought of them. Since that day at Murty’s she’d always been worried about the possibility of hurting someone on accident again.

But he knew…he knew in spite of all that, she had it. And his feet slowly carried him back into the living room. Knowing he’d missed something. That in his haste, he’d looked past the various clues that she must have left behind.

When Elizabeth was angry, she didn’t think straight. She was driven by nothing but fear, and sorrow when her emotions were riled. She would have been sloppy in her haste to get to Alex.

He stopped just next to the couch and looked down at the spot on the rug. The paleness of something spread out in a wash of color over the brown carpet. Slowly – like lead – he moved towards it. Knelt down beside the stain and trailed his fingers over it.

Milk. Milk that was still wet upon his carpet. Yet cool to the touch.

His eyes moved towards the couch and saw the mug sitting there. Lying on it’s side and empty of its contents except for few drops. He tasted a drop and knew once and for all that it was indeed milk.

Spilled milk and a missing gun.

He glanced towards the bar that lined their small kitchen. The bar that she always left a note on if she was going out somewhere.

There was no note to be had this afternoon. Not a trace of her. Only the remnants of a sudden shock.

Lucky couldn’t fathom what had set her off. How she’d found out. Maybe she’d gone back to the hospital when he didn’t show up at home. Maybe she’d found a way to question the same lab rat about the medication she’d thought had been used for her grandmother. That face of hers could con just about any naïve young technician in the place.

Or maybe…maybe that Asshole Alex had called her to finally confess…

Maybe she’d just…maybe she’d remembered something.

As his eyes eased over the stain and the lonely mug once more a shiver so cold ran through his body that he literally shook from head to toe.

She was there. She was already there – and ready to kill him.

***

The rest of the afternoon, after that moment. When he ran out to his car and sped even faster than he had the first time, shot through his mind so quickly that he couldn’t seem to grab a moment of it and make it sit still long enough to be examined.

But the other part – the part when he’d arrived at the Hart Mansion and stumbled into the kitchen…That part would never go away.

No, as long as he lived he would see that scene in his head. As long as he lived he would never stop feeling that fear rise out of the pit of his stomach and coat his entire body with a slick sheen of sweat.

It brought tears to his eyes even now, hours later and he had to push it down. Push it down or be suffocated by it.

~~~~~~~

Nikolas didn’t wait to be announced by Mrs. Landsbury. He simply made his way through the parlor, up the stairs and into his uncle’s study without even knocking.

Every bit of manner and etiquette he’d been taught as a child, thrown out the window.

Stephan rose from his chair. Standing behind his desk. "Nikolas, what a lovely surprise. I didn’t expect to see you today – did I forget dinner plans or is this simply a social vis –

"You know damn well why I’m here," Nikolas said quickly. Moving forward. "I’ve got no time for games uncle. I want you to be straight with me…Did you have anything to do with the death of Alexander Hart?"

Sighing, Stephan scratched his beard. Blunt – straightforward…he guessed he could respect that if not the rudeness.

"You couldn’t have simply said ‘hello,’ or ‘how are you doing Uncle?’ You found it more desirable to come in with…guns blazing so to speak?…Well I suppose I didn’t raise you beat around the bush."

"No you didn’t, so why don’t you take that to heart and start talking."

Stephan raised an eyebrow and walked around his desk. "At the risk of being in poor taste, I must say I’m a little taken aback by how upset you seem by his death…We’re all better off Nikolas. Wouldn’t you agree?"

"Ordinarily? Yes, I’d agree," Nikolas sighed. Gesturing wildly. "But it just so happens that my brother stands the chance of rotting away in a jail cell because somebody killed the bastard."

"How do you know it wasn’t Spencer?"

Nikolas sighed. Damn it why couldn’t his uncle just ever give him a straight answer.

"Because if Lucky were going to kill Alexander Hart he would have done it long ago – and he wouldn’t have gotten caught."

"Quite a vote of confidence for a young man who abandoned his girlfriend and his family and friends when things got unpleasant."

Nikolas looked up to the sky and silently begged for patience. "Listen, I didn’t come here to have some debate with you over whether my brother had reason for what he did. I’m asking you if you did this – if you killed Alexander Hart."

Stephan folded his arms and regarded his nephew carefully. He looked just about ready to burst as the seams. He really did love this man – his brother.

"If I had killed Alexander Hart do you really believe that I’d let an innocent man sit in jail for it?"

"Do you want an honest answer to that question?"

An eyebrow jumped on Stephan’s face. "I guess I deserve that……But the answer is ‘no,’ Nikolas. I didn’t kill him."

"You’re sure?"

A smile broke out across his face, but Nikolas didn’t find it at all amusing. "What do you mean am I SURE? Nikolas I think I’m still young enough to know if I’ve had someone killed. I’m not senile yet – as I know of."

Nikolas narrowed his eyes. Regarding his uncle just as carefully as he had regarded him moments before. "I want to believe you."

His patience growing thin, Stephan moved behind his desk and righted some of his pens. Putting away a few papers. Mrs. Landsbury was making his favorite tonight and he didn’t have time to be interrogated by the boy that he’d raised.

"You either chose to believe it or you don’t. I have no control over what you think Nikolas."

Licking his lips, Nikolas stepped back as Stephan made his way towards the door. "If you were going to kill him, you would have done it while he was staying here right? When he was just hanging on to life upstairs in that room……and you know exactly how devastated my mother would be if you let her son sit in prison for a crime he didn’t commit right?"

Just as he’d been about to open the door, Stephan turned back to him. "I know exactly how devastated Laura would be……I’m going down to have my dinner now Nikolas. If you’d like to join me, please be my guest…..but they’ll be no more talk of this."

No more talk of this.

The words infuriated Nikolas. Who the Hell did his uncle think he was? Dictating what he could and could not discuss.

Nikolas nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. "No don’t worry about it. I’ve got dinner waiting at home. Good night Uncle."

~~~~~~~

‘What’s it like to have a child’s blood on your hands? What’s it like to decide who lives and who dies?’

The words and the questions fluttered through her mind like a wounded butterfly as she slept. What were they? When had she asked that and to whom?

Something blurry tried to make itself clear but she couldn’t seem to bring it into focus. All she knew was that when she looked down at herself in this dream, her own hands were bloody. No one else’s.

‘What’s it like to have a child’s blood on your hands?’

What child? What child?! Luna? The babies she carried within her now? She couldn’t understand why she’d say such a thing. But it was her voice. Her voice making the accusation that much she was sure of.

‘What’s it like to decide who lives and who dies?’

Who had decided what exactly?

Elizabeth’s brow creased in her sleep and she whimpered aloud. Letting her hand trail along the surface of the bed in search of him. If she could just feel his chest…his heart…

But he wasn’t there. He’d moved back into the apartment over the bike shop. They’d made love there just several days ago hadn’t they? God, it seemed so far away now. It seemed lifetimes away…and she was sad.

God, she was so sad.

‘What’s it like to have a child’s blood on your hands? What’s it like to decide who lives and who dies?’

No, no, no! She didn’t want to hear the questions anymore! It’d been her fault of course. She’s the one that had killed her child, by wishing her away for those first couple of weeks. She’d done it! No one else…God, why did it burn like a fresh wound in her chest now?

In the real world, outside of Elizabeth’s head – Laura rose from the chair that had been covered with Elizabeth’s clothes and purses and such in the corner. Moving to sit on the bed next to her. She drew a soft hand through the girl’s hair as she whimpered something awful in her sleep.

"It’s ok Sweetheart," she whispered. Trying to console what seemed inconsolable.

It was a lie anyway. Things weren’t going to be ok. Not if Lucky didn’t allow himself representation. Not if Elizabeth didn’t wake up with a full account of what exactly had gone on in that mansion today.

But the night was growing very dark, and her son would be spending these first hours in cell. It made her heart lurch in her chest. She didn’t want her son there, damn it.

The sounds of Elizabeth’s terror had Laura jolting out of her thoughts. The girl sat up with a start, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Laura moved quickly to cradle her in her arms. "Sssh…you’re ok. I’m here…You were just having a bad dream Honey…Do you want to talk about it?"

The fact that she was being held by Laura and not Lucky registered in her mind and she sniffled back her sudden tears. "I…Laura?…Y – yes…I don’t know…I don’t know what happened."

"You were having a nightmare. Crying in your sleep. I thought if I sat here with you for awhile you’d fall back into a nice sleep…but then you woke up – screaming..."

Elizabeth’s eyes flitted quickly about the room. "He’s not here is he?…He’s gone. Laura where is he?"

Laura’s breath caught in her throat and she quickly looked down. God help her, she didn’t want to lie to the woman who would one day be her son’s wife. The woman who carried her grandchild inside her now.

Before she could answer, Elizabeth slid from the bed and stood up. Going to stand in the front of the closet. Something like a memory settled in and then slithered away right before she could get a firm grasp.

"Laura please tell me where he is. I know something is going on. Luke’s not here anymore," she continued. Glancing down the hall to the living room. "Has he gone to be with Lucky – wherever he is……Laura please, I know something’s wrong. I can feel it – something is very, very wrong."

Looking down once more, Laura sighed. Something should have been very, very right. The fact that Alexander Hart was dead should have been a celebratory occasion.

"Elizabeth what’s the very last thing you remember happening today?"

Frustrated, Elizabeth glanced around the room and ran her fingers angrily through her hair. "I remember coming home from the hospital after we took Gram – Oh my God, is there something wrong with Gram?! Has she had a relapse?! They said she was going to be ok! That she just needed rest –

Laura was on her feet in a second, grasping Elizabeth by the arms. "No Sweetheart, I haven’t heard anything about Audrey. It’s Alex…he – he was killed. Earlier this afternoon, he was killed in his home."

She watched as something like shock registered through Elizabeth’s eyes. Not quite shock…but something like it. Something she couldn’t name.

"Alex…Alex is dead?"

Turning away from Laura, she sat back down on the bed. Staring at the closet once more. What was it about the damn closet that made her feel a sense of déjà vu?

"How did it…how did it happen?" She asked shakily.

Choosing her words carefully, Laura sat down beside her. "From what Luke tells me it was a gunshot wound…or – several gunshot wounds."

"I couldn’t sleep," Elizabeth said suddenly. "I just couldn’t seem to fall asleep, so I got up and I…I went into the kitchen." Damn it! Why was it all so fuzzy? It was less than 24 hours ago!

"What happened then?" Laura asked. Instantly feeling the guilt rise in her chest because she knew she wasn’t asking for the girl’s benefit, but for her son. If Elizabeth did this…then what?

But since Elizabeth seemed to need to talk…

‘You bitch,’ Laura thought about herself quickly. ‘What exactly do you want to happen Laura? You want her to go to jail instead of Lucky?’ She asked internally. Appalled with herself.

"I don’t know…I think. I think I got something to drink. I remember walking around the apartment, talking to my babies…It sounds ridiculous I know, but it’s just this thing I do…talk to them – especially when we’re alone."

Laura’s brow creased. "You’re babies?"

Elizabeth glanced at the woman beside her, and realization slowly dawned. They hadn’t told her. She’d never even officially told her she was pregnant with ONE baby. She’s simply guessed when she’d been staying at their house.

"Babies…three," she said now. "We couldn’t tell you because of…." Her voice drifted away, and then resumed. "I guess it’s ok to tell you now though…there are three." She said again. Watching a slow smile move over Laura’s face.

Her eyes filled with tears when Elizabeth took her hand and moved it to her belly with a watery grin. "Meet your grandbabies…Lucky thinks it’s two girls and a boy."

Laura’s eyes were wide when she looked up at Elizabeth, and she fought to control her voice. Speaking past the lump that invaded her throat. "You’re sure? The doctor –

"The doctor said so…we heard the heartbeats…and Lucky – Lucky passed out," she said softly. Smiling at her soon to be mother – in – law when she met her eyes once again. Her hand still in place on her stomach.

Elizabeth tried to contain her smile. Deep down somewhere, something told her it wasn’t ok to smile. But it was the first time, she’d told anyone this close to her – that wasn’t Lucky, and it made her feel warm from head to toe. The first tingle of warmth in hours.

"We’ve got an appointment…tomorrow?" She said, as if in question. She couldn’t be sure that today wasn’t tomorrow already. All concept of time thrown out the window now, only dark spots remained. "To see them. It’ll be our first ultrasound."

Laura covered her mouth with a trembling hand and the light in Elizabeth’s eyes went out. "What’s wrong…Laura please tell me…..Oh my God, did something happen to Lucky! Is Lucky –

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth," Laura said quickly. Taking her hands in hers. "Listen to me. Lucky is fine…I mean at least – physically he’s fine. He’s just…"

"Laura please!" Elizabeth said finally. Beyond exasperation. She was suddenly crying again. "I know something’s going on! I can feel it, but I can’t remember anything about the last few hours of my life! I feel like I’m going crazy here because you’re looking at me as if I’m about to break and –

"He’s in jail Elizabeth."

The heart that had been beating so erratically in her chest came to an abrupt halt. "Wh – what?"

"They think he murdered Alex, Elizabeth. He was found at the scene of the crime… Alex’s kitchen," she added. Not that she wanted to sound morbid. But her mother’s heart desperately needed Elizabeth to remember if there was anything at all for her to remember.

Slowly, Elizabeth sank back down to the bed. "Lu – Lucky?…But he didn’t. He couldn’t have –

"He couldn’t have?" Laura said quickly. Moving forward once more. "Do you know that for sure Elizabeth? How?"

She shook her head slowly. "I just know. I just know that he didn’t do it. Something inside me," she said. Touching her heart. "He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t just…just kill – just like that."

Laura wanted to say, ‘Not even if it were for you?’ But she didn’t. Some semblance of sanity held her back.

Elizabeth shot up from the bed and brought Laura’s attention back to her. "He’s in jail…Well they can’t seriously keep him there…we’ll call Alexis and –

"Alexis is already on the case…well," Laura paused. "Technically she’s on the case. But Lucky…Liz, Lucky is refusing representation. For one reason or another," she added. Using yet another prompt to jog the girl’s memory.

"Why would he do that?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief. Walking now towards the chair where Laura had sat earlier, to grab the purse than hung to the side of it. When she lifted it, it seemed lighter than usual and she glanced inside. Her wallet was missing.

Still talking to Laura, Elizabeth rounded the bed and walked towards the dresser. Had she left it on top of…no…

"I’m going down to the police station and I’ll find out what’s going on," she muttered quickly and absently.

"He’s in Evergreen. Luke’s with him now…at the Evergreen police department."

Elizabeth turned from the dresser. Her voice soft now as it all started to register. Lucky was in jail. He was in jail for murdering…for murdering Alex.

Alex was dead.

Her legs almost gave out from underneath her once more, but she took a deep breath. Steadying her self. Knowing she had to keep it together now. For him, for their children.

"Ok, she said then. I’ll go there…I’ll go there and I’ll talk to him and everything will be alright," she rambled. Spotting another one of her purses in the bathroom. The big straw one that she hadn’t used in months. What the Hell was it doing on the counter…like she’d actually used it for something...

She walked into the open bathroom and glanced inside. Sure enough her wallet was there…it almost seemed to be waiting for her. She reached in to pull it out and a chill ran up her spine so quick that she literally swayed before the mirror.

Laura stood in the doorway. "Are you ok?"

Elizabeth nodded quickly. "Y – yeah I’m ok. I just need to get to Lucky that’s all. We’ll get to the bottom of this…together…"

Her voice trailed away as she brushed past Laura and out of the bedroom. Laura followed. "Do you need someone to drive you? Are you sure you’re o –

"I’m fine," Elizabeth said quickly. Nodding. "I’m fine…I just need to see Lucky."

Laura nodded solemnly and Elizabeth continued. "Alex is dead Laura. He’s dead and he can’t hurt us anymore. I won’t let him."

~~~~~~~

Leopold clicked the seatbelt into a locked position and leaned back. Knowing that now, on the long flight it would be impossible to keep the day’s events at bay. No, now it would all come hurtling back at a lightening pace.

Now it would choke him and move through him like poison.

His own words came back to haunt him even before the ghost of his son did. He remembered the smell of liquor so vividly. The dimly lit office – shades drawn in the middle of the afternoon…the quiet of a completely empty mansion.

***

"What kind of…what kind of animal is this? Did I raise this?" Leopold asked himself in disgust "You sit here…laughing…like you’re proud."

Alex shrugged and took another drink. "I don’t think it’s funny," he said, continuing to chuckle. "Not the killing the baby part…just the fact that you’re just figuring it out. Here I was…afraid – all these years that you’d put two and two together…but you never did…..senile old bastard."

***

Well, the senile old bastard HAD put two and two together, and come up with five. Come up with something so wrong, that even now – even after the problem had been driven from their lives – it made him dig his fingernails into the armrests upon take-off.

His son had been even worse than the monster he’d accused him of being earlier today. His son had been blight on society. And it was time he stopped thinking of him as his son.

Maybe for now he’d simply try and think of him as dead.

~~~~~~~

Lucky groaned aloud when he heard the click of the heels against cement once more. "Damn it Alexis – I just told my dad I didn’t want to –

His voice broke off and he shot immediately up from the cot and towards the bars before him. Curling his fingers around them.

"What are you doing here?" He asked softly. His breath catching at the sight of her. His voice quivered, and try as he might to keep the desperation – the excitement out of it – he couldn’t.

"Did you think I wouldn’t come?" Elizabeth asked quickly. Easing her fingertips around his. The contact made her tingle and she closed her eyes to sudden tears.

"I just…how did you even get in? It’s way past visiting –

"Your dad is standing guard just outside," she explained quickly. Her eyes locked with his and she saw the desperation that he hadn’t even been able to keep out of his voice. Yet his staunch ability not to put it into words, was still in tact. "Lucky…what’s going on? What’s happening here?"

Licking his lips quickly, Lucky let his fingers fall away from hers as he took a step back. His body closing off now. If he allowed himself any more closeness he wouldn’t be able to do this. To do what was best for his family.

"Alex was murdered."

Her eyes still riveted to the top of his head now as he pulled his foot along concrete, she inhaled deeply. "But you didn’t do it."

He looked up at her then. Eyes of blue steel locking with hers. The tears in them almost pulled the truth right out of him. Or at least what he believed to be the truth.

"I wanted him dead."

Technically it wasn’t a lie. He had wanted him dead. For years – for months – for one day that would live in infamy.

"Lucky, I know you didn’t do this. Look at me and tell me why you’re acting as if you did. Why you won’t let Alexis do her job?…Lucky she could get you out on bail at least and then we can find out who really did this...then we can thank them."

He searched her eyes for a long moment. She seriously had no idea.

Crossing towards her again, he slipped his fingers through the bars and cursed them under his breath. Wanting to be able to touch her. Hold her…now more than ever.

"Are you ok?" He asked tenderly. The tips of his fingers trailing along her cheeks. The bruise wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be. Just a faint coloring of rose on the left side…but tomorrow…God, what if it showed up tomorrow? What if someone saw it and started asking questions…

"Did my father take you to the clinic?" He asked then. Needing to concentrate on one thing at a time or his head would explode from remembering all the details. "What did they say? You’re ok right? I just need to know that you’re ok…they’re ok," he added. Squeezing a hand through the lower rungs of the bars to touch her stomach.

Another layer of blankness seemed to sweep through her dark blue eyes. "Lucky, what are you talking about?…I didn’t go to any clinic. Why would I –

Her voice broke off. The sounds of her own screams filling her head. Screams that echoed through the mansion like an empty chamber. Screams that later flew through the wind when Luke had tried to pull her from his car and towards the…the clinic.

"Don’t…don’t hurt my babies please…" she whispered aloud now.

Lucky drew closer. Confusion, darkening his features. "What?"

But she couldn’t hear him. Her mind and body tumbled back in time, just a few hours back, hours that felt like a lifetime.

***

The quiet, pleading whimper had only made him more excited. More anxious to have her.

His hand slid inside her pants and she screamed, using her knee to try and push him away but to no avail when he used his other hand to press it to the cold floor beneath him. Using all of his weight to pin her down. She screamed once more. So loudly that the whole world should of heard it. She kept screaming just like that…but nobody heard.

No one came…

"Shut up," he grunted. Plastering the hand that held her leg over her mouth now. "Shut the Hell up."

***

"Elizabeth…Elizabeth, please baby – talk to me," Lucky pleaded. Feeling a sense of déjà vu wash over him in seconds. He’d done this very thing hours before. Trying to bring her back from some horrendous place.

It seemed she was only now just returning.

God, if he’d done something to her…if he’d -

"Oh my God," she said then, looking up at him with horror in her eyes. Trembling now. Trembling something awful.

Lucky tried to reach through the bars to hold her. "Damn it!" He hissed maneuvering until the muscles in his arms hurt from the strain. "Come ‘ere…come ‘ere."

She tried to wrap her arms around his waist. Tried to get a hold of her shaking knees. "What happened Lucky? What happened to me?"

Blinking back tears, Lucky inhaled deeply and slowly shook his head. "Baby I don’t know…but we’re gonna find out, ok? I promise you that –

"I would know right?!" She said quickly. Very close to hysteria now. As she thought about Alex’s hands. His body lying on top of hers. His sharp grunts for air…

"I would know! I would know if he touched me…right?!" She continued.

Asking again and again. Pulling her hands back now to scratch and rub at her skin.

The kind of reaction that most people had to having been around a bunch of bugs.

He reached for her, tugging her hands back and holding them in his. He stared deep into her eyes. Saying words he didn’t know to be true, but words that he needed to hear just as much as he needed to say them to her.

"You would know," he said soberly. Making sure he sounded one hundred percent certain. "You would know."

As if another wave of something crashed over her, her mouth dropped open and she tried to breath through it, while trying not to drown at the same time. This wasn’t some mad hallucination. Alex had put his hands on her today…that much she could feel. Could suddenly feel as if it had been one minute ago.

"Lucky what happened?…Did I do this?……Lucky did I kill Alex?"

His silence had her eyes growing wider. He slowly shook his head…

"I don’t know Elizabeth…I don’t know."